Sehun’s life had been a static and boring one, nothing bright or even fun. His routine stays the same every day. Wake up, go to work, go home, sleep, then it starts from the top again. 

Occasionally, he would have a night out in between those routines, for lunch or a movie whenever particular kind of movies -preferably action movies— hits cinemas. If his life was an essay, it would only have a paragraph.

When he needs a friend, he would call his buddy, Chanyeol, who always says he’s busy working when he really just stays home and makes his own mix tapes. 

Its one of those spare times again, when Sehun calls Chanyeol.

“Are you up for a quick bubble tea?”

“Sorry, I’m busy. Can you just ask me on another time?”

“You’re practically busy, you always sit on the same chair, staring at your unfinished mix,” Sehun’s voice spilling with sarcasm. Chanyeol snorts in the other line, ready to retaliate.

Sehun cuts in easily before Chanyeol can, “Please, just a bubble tea. I have a night shift later at work and it wont hurt to let your breath for a while.”

Chanyeol heaves a sigh, obviously contemplating on whether he should take on the little brat’s offer, “You do know you’re an but I still hang out with you anyways?”

“Yes, I know and I love you too,” Sehun laughs, he knows Chanyeol all too well, “Meet you at 5, in the usual place.”

Sehun had always been on time even when he hangs out, and this time, there’s no exception. He comes to the park, right at the bench at 5. 

Its spring season, the cold wind blowing softly in the air. He’s always fond of spring because the breeze has a sort of calming feeling, yet the sun shining radiates warmth unlike the usual unbearable heat in summer.

Sehun isn’t one to fight back but he’ll help with all he can, so when he hears a scream while he was checking his phone, he’s suddenly alert and panics as he turns his head to the voice, only to find a guy being tackled by his dog. 

He’s laughing then, and his face brightens up in pure happiness, seemingly his dog brings him joy. The smile on his lips is beautiful and Sehun can’t help but smile too.

If only Sehun enjoys life as much as that person does. Will a dog help, Sehun thinks all of a sudden. His mind wanders the possibilities of having a joyful life, and he cringes.

Its odd, thinking of the opposite version of Sehun, who smiles a lot and is able to do anything he likes. Possible, but very unlikely since circumstances pushes him far away from the possibility.

A smack on his shoulder snaps him out of his thoughts, as he looks up and sees Chanyeol’s grinning face. 

“Miss me?” Chanyeol chuckles and Sehun pushes him away as he stands up, “You wish.”

The bubble tea shop is close by, only a few blocks away. The walk to the place feels short but every minute passing by is cherished by Sehun. 

He spends his time talking, but mostly on jokes because he needs a good laugh. 

After going in the shop, a chocolate bubble tea in his hand and a satisfied smile on his lips, he decides to part ways with Chanyeol. 

Unlike his usual routine -going straight home—, he has sudden plans to go somewhere else. 

“Hey, I need to go to some place in mind,” he voices out and to Chanyeol’s surprise, this is the first time Sehun would go somewhere without him.

“Oh Sehun finally out of his nutshell? Is this a miracle?”

With that, Chanyeol earns his third smack of the day from Sehun. Chanyeol leaves with a smile on his face, secretly happy for Sehun. 

Sehun’s feet takes him to a pet shop he knows nearby, he knows from passing by a few times when he strolls around the neighborhood. He sees Corgi puppies by the window the moment he’s in front of the shop, for adoption written on a sign taped to the glass.

He goes in, the bell ringing on the door, a sign of a new customer coming in. He takes in the view of the pet shop, dogs walking everywhere around him. 

He laughs when he sees a white Maltese coming up to him, and Sehun reaches to caress its soft fur. 

As he enters the shop, he’s terribly in awe with all the dogs and puppies. Sehun imagines adopting one, the cute accessories and variant kinds of dog treats he’ll buy to spoil his dog. 

“Monggu, don’t go too far!” someone says, a tall brown Poodle passing through Sehun’s legs.

Sehun’s eyes trails the dog, he crouches down, his hand itches to touch the Poodle, in which the dog complies and nuzzles its nose to Sehun’s hand. 

“That’s odd, he’s usually not very fond of new people,” the voice responds softly, amazed at his own dog. 

“Its probably a sign for me to have one,” Sehun says back lightly, standing up to face the dog’s owner. His eyes finds into a pair of brown orbs, then his gaze falls to the person’s lips, those familiar lips.

He blinks a few times before averting his eyes else where except his lips. He soon recognized the guy from the park earlier with his dog. What a coincidence, Sehun thinks, the universe seems to start pushing me onto a happier life. 

The blonde-haired boy smiles at him, that very same smile he saw in the park, “Are you deciding on which to buy or adopt?”

Sehun realizes that the smiling boy in front of him is one of the shop’s assistant, seeing as how he’s wearing an apron with a paw on it, Kim Jongin written on his name tag. “I’m still hesitating, what do you think?”

“I think my answer couldn’t be more obvious,” he laughs, hands coming up to scratch the nape of his neck, “Its better to adopt dogs but you should leave it a day. You look uncertain.”

Sehun blushes at how accurately Jongin reads him, also to the fact that the boy wouldn’t stop smiling that beautiful smile, “If you’re finally sure, I’ll help you in choosing one.”

There’s something tickling on his leg as his eyes shift downwards, noticing the white Maltese purring and playing with his shoes. 

Sehun smiles, falling over the cuteness of the dog, “Thanks, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Oh and I’m Jongin. In case you don’t see me around, just mention my name to anyone and they’ll hit me up,” Jongin throws a small smile, before helping out another customer. 

Sehun goes out the shop with a simple thought of adopting the cute white Maltese. There’s a slight tingling feeling about meeting Jongin, but he pushes it far into the back of his mind.

But the blonde-haired boy with that startling smile and droopy eyes seems to linger in his mind much to Sehun’s dismay. He’s back in the cafe he works at, after he goes home for a quick shower. 

His night shift starts and its dreading him, because at night hours, only a few people comes into the cafe. A lot usually have a take out instead, since they’re rushing to go home.

Sehun wants to go home too, he would gladly like to be in his usual morning shift instead of his night shifts. 

He’s leaning into the cashier, his hand propping his chin as he slowly dozes off, until the bell on the door rings and it surprises him awake. 

“You work here?” A familiar voice says amidst the quiet room, and Sehun looks up to see Jongin’s face once again. 

He’s not wearing his work outfit, instead he’s wearing a scarf around his neck and a long coat, and Sehun notices a turtleneck top underneath it.

Is this another sign for me, Sehun snickers, as he dusts off his shirt, taking his eyes away from Jongin's soft smile, “What can I get you?”

“A hot chocolate please, Oh Sehun,” the said boy furrows his eyebrows, but Jongin silently points towards the name tag on his shirt. 

“What time does your shift end?” Jongin asks suddenly, surprising Sehun a little.

“Around 10 pm, why?”

“For a walk around the park,” Jongin smiles again, his gaze falling to Sehun’s fingers mindlessly tapping the screen. 

He’s taken aback at the sudden approach that it makes him too nervous to look up into Jongin’s eyes. He opts into staring the screen in front of him while unconsciously tapping the screen rapidly.

“Its okay if you don’t want to, I just thought we can have a small talk.”

“Sure, why not,” Sehun mutters, more like to himself, but Jongin hears it clearly and he smirks a little. 

Jongin pays for the hot chocolate before saying a quick, “I’ll wait until it’s over.”

A minute later, Sehun is fidgeting behind the counter, being a nervous wreck. Befriending someone is out of his league, he always felt like he might end up messing everything. 

He at being a friend, its amazing Chanyeol could put up with him until now.

He keeps on looking back and forth towards Jongin, who is sitting calmly by the sofa, his earphones plugged in as he sips his hot chocolate once in awhile. 

His sideline looks so nice, Sehun thinks, snapping out before he can wander further more. 

Time ticks by faster than Sehun realizes, his shift is about to end as he tidies a few things on the counter and switches the lights off. 

Jongin is already standing outside the door, arms wrapping around his body, hugging himself from the shivering cold wind. The night wind is relentless, and Sehun hopes his coat is enough.

He’s responsible for the keys since he had the last night shift. Sehun goes out the door, not forgetting to lock the door of the café.

He pockets the key into his jeans pocket, his feet taking long strides to match up Jongin’s pace.

They’re walking side by side in the dark night, until Jongin itches and breaks the ice. “How long have you been working in the café?”

“For about a year or so. I love coffee so at least working in a café is a way to earn money for something I like.”

“Coffee is like toxic spill,” Jongin cringes and Sehun laughs awkwardly, his hand pushing back his hair.

“How about you? You seem to be fond of the shop, you have your dog running around in it.”

Jongin smiles in the night, the only light shining upon his face is from the bright moonlight above and it glows on his tanned-skin. He looks even more breath-taking. 

“Its my shop and I’ve always dreamed of having one.”

“No wonder there’s a slight twinkle in your eyes whenever you’re around dogs,” Sehun blurts out without thinking and Jongin’s laugh rings in the air. 

Sehun curses at himself but he’s silently thankful Jongin takes his words lightly.

“Like you said, I’d be much happier earning money from the things I love doing.”

“Being happy is a life goal and its nice to see that you’ve got it,” Sehun couldn’t stop the words tumbling out of his mouth but he shrugs it off. 

Sehun sees that twinkle in Jongin’s eyes and somehow, he has a genuine smile on his lips.

“How about you? Have you reached your life goal, Sehuna?”

The boy breathes out a sigh, before shaking his head lightly. Jongin stills as if waiting for Sehun to continue, so he speaks up, “Working in a café makes me feel happy, but genuinely being happy for the rest of my life? I don’t think so.”

“And why is that?”

“I haven’t found anything that could be the sole reason of my happiness.”

Sehun keeps on walking ahead, before noticing that Jongin is no longer behind him and stays struck on his place. His eyes staring to the ground beneath him, there’s no smile on his lips.

Since he sees Jongin not moving an inch, his feet decides to take a few slow steps until he stands in front of Jongin. He was about to ask what’s wrong with him, but Jongin catches up first, “But Sehuna,”

His voice trailing before his face lifts up and his gaze falls upon Sehun’s, his brows contorting in confusion. The gaze Jongin gives him holds thousands of meanings but Sehun can’t decipher any of it.

“Being happy isn’t about having to have the reason behind it. Being genuinely happy is having to smile on the littlest things in life, like how the wind blows in the night, the smell after the pouring rain, sipping a nice hot chocolate, or just merely talking to someone else like how I’m talking to you right now,” Jongin’s voice is so soft in the night and Sehun doesn’t want him to stop. 

Now, he’s the one struck to his place, unable to form any words as he held his breath. 

“Life is hard, you can’t survive with being happy for a reason, it’ll only make everything harder than it already is. Be happy for anything, then I promise you, the life goal you’re seeking is closer than you thought,” and Jongin smiles again. He couldn’t help but smile since Sehun looks utterly confused but at the same time, his mouth is slightly gaping.

“Will you promise?” Jongin hears Sehun’s whisper, if he didn’t pay attention, he wouldn’t have heard it. Jongin looks over Sehun who had been blinking for how many times, and his fingers fidgeting under the long sleeves of his coat.

Jongin leans in to whisper in Sehun’s ear, as he feels the latter tensing beside him, “I promise and I’m a man with my words.” Then Jongin continues walking, without glancing a stoned Sehun behind him.

Sehun finally walks with hurried steps behind Jongin after he was called out. 

No one had ever made Sehun feel like what he felt with Jongin. He can feel the push, even more so, he takes Jongin’s words into heart and wants to try to be happy. 

In just that moment, Sehun knows that Jongin’s here with him means something than an encounter and he’s left to find the reason. He glances the person beside him once in awhile, and smiles to himself.

Thank you, Jongin. I’ll try, for myself and for you.

The night falls into midnight as they spend the time with talking and laughing along. Time strikes 12 AM as the clock rings loud in the park.

Two pairs of feet walking on pebbled paths, the lamps accompanying them with a help from the moon and stars shining above. 

A few hours ago, they were strangers but tonight, they’re telling stories and crappy jokes like best friends. Sehun sighs in content, the feeling of joy is heavy in his chest and his lips forming countless smiles than any other day in his whole life.

Sehun longs for moments like this and he imagines imprinting every moment in his mind, the night turning as the best time of his life.

They’re walking down a certain path without uttering a word, there’s a comfortable silence between them, then Sehun coughs lightly, “I haven’t had such an enjoyable time until tonight, Jongin.”

“Its crazy that its past midnight, while either of us have morning shifts later,” Jongin grins, his hands coming up to give a gentle squeeze on Sehun’s shoulder, “I hope we can hang out some time soon.”

“We can actually, after I buy that Maltese I was talking about.”

Jongin turns his head to Sehun, only to see Sehun’s sincere eyes looking back at him, “So you’re finally sure?”

Sehun hums in response, his head nodding in approval. All of a sudden, there’s a warm embrace around him, and Sehun notices that Jongin is hugging him tightly.

His eyes widens, feeling tense once again and he’s unable to move his body under the embrace. His cheeks are heating up, probably in a pink shade and he silently prays that Jongin doesn’t see it.

After what felt like an hour, Jongin finally pulls back a little, only to look into Sehun’s eyes. 

Those beautiful brown eyes is captivating and its him in. A gaze that could easily entrap him in all possible ways.

He’s falling deep in Jongin’s gaze, he failed to notice Jongin had pulled back completely. A little smirk is painted on his lips, “I can say that I’ll meet you again at the shop?”

Sehun, still unable to comprehend what just happened, can only nod his head. His mind thinks of what he can say in return, but the words become a mess once he’s about to say it.

Jongin turns on his phone, an astonished look on his face when he sees its almost 2 am. 

“I’m leaving, see you soon, Sehun!” Jongin turns on his heels and walks away in a fast pace, but he stops to wave back at a dazed Sehun. 

Sehun lets out a hitched breath, mixed feelings came rushing in all at once and he’s overwhelmed by it.

He decides to walk home after a good few minutes trying to discern what he’s feeling, but one thing is for sure.

Jongin leaves him reeling for more of his warmth.

When he gets on bed, Sehun ends up staring to the ceiling above, a little of himself misses Jongin’s presence. He doesn’t feel like sleeping but he couldn’t care less since he had an evening shift in exchange of his night shift.

He knows that the latter could possibly make a big change into Sehun’s life just by their walk to the park. He feels it when Jongin says those words and how he could make him smile countless of times by simply cracking a pun or even by hearing his laugh.

Well isn’t that magic, Sehun hums while closing his eyes, drifting off slowly as he finally feels the need to sleep. No, its not magic. Its just Kim Jongin, and Sehun smiles as he dozes off, the thought of Jongin still lingering in the back of his mind.

The alarm rings precisely at 8 am and Sehun wakes up with a fresh and happy feeling. The need of coffee coaxes him to get off from his bed and head down the kitchen to brew some. 

While the coffee starts brewing, the smell of it spreads in the air and it wakes Sehun up completely. He checks his phone and sees Chanyeol sending him a text. 

The text says, “where did u go yesterday?”

Sehun types back quickly, “none of ur business.”

“It is actually, considering I’m a friend of urs and u’re a brat.”

“still, its none of ur concern, park chanyeol.”

“come on, I’ve been dying to know where the infamous nutshell oh sehun went out to.”

Sehun snickers and types in quickly, letting the hot brewed coffee sit still for awhile before leaving his phone. 

“pet shop,” was the last text he sent. His mind is planning on what to do for the day, as he head into the bathroom.

He’s ready by the time strikes 10 am, he’s standing by the table near his kitchen, sipping his coffee as he flips the pages to the old magazine laying on the table.

After he finished his daily dose of caffeine, he heads out the apartment, taking along his jacket, in case the wind is relentless. 

The street has its usual crowd, everyone walking in a fast pace, hugging their bodies beneath the jacket and coat they’re wearing as they head indoors, craving for heat.

Sehun enjoys the wind, as his feet takes him to a warm place -more like Jongin’s pet shop but it gives off a warm feeling, so same difference— just a block away. 

His money safely tucked in his pocket, as he checks his phone, and as expected, he gets tons of replies from Chanyeol.

“OH. MY. GOD.”

“WAIT. what are u doing in a pet shop?”

“OH SEHUN ELABORATE PLS.”

A snicker escapes his lips as he chooses to ignore the text instead, the door to the pet shop visible in his eyes and there’s a WELCOME sign hanging on the door, with patterns of a dog’s paw, in which Sehun failed to notice when he first came by.

The bell rings in the empty shop, he spots the dogs walking around the shop and he thinks he’s the first customer that morning. A shop assistant sees him, as she walks towards him, “How may I help you today?”

“Do you happen to know where Kim Jongin is?” Jongin is nowhere to be seen, and he remembers what Jongin told him before.

The girl puts on a surprised look, since not every day she encounters someone who comes in search of Jongin. She gives him a smile instead, “At this hour, he’s probably in the park with his dogs.”

And Sehun finds Jongin very cute, he seems to dote on his dogs so much that he doesn’t forget to play with them. The image of Jongin being tackled to the ground by his dogs yesterday is suddenly replaying in his mind.

He thanks the girl, not forgetting to ask for Jongin’s number, just in case he needed to call him if he can’t spot him with his dogs. He jogs to the park, as he sees the slightly empty park, only a few people passing by or cycling past him. 

He silently hopes he finds that familiar blonde-haired boy nearby, his eyes darting around in search of him. He’s exasperated and sits on a bench, Jongin is nowhere to be seen and he wishes he could have his luck when he spotted him for the first time.

As if his luck is suddenly back in his fingertips, the sounds of dogs barking is distant in his ear but its getting closer. Sehun lifts his head up just in time three Poodles are jogging his way, the dog owner not far behind, and Sehun grins.

Jongin still looked sleepy, a soft smile sent towards his dogs but Sehun had come to like that about him. 

What did I say? I like him? No, it can’t be, get a grip Sehun, until Jongin’s gaze flickered towards him and there’s a mix of joy and warmth in those eyes.

“Oh Sehun!” Jongin calls out, stopping in front of him, his Poodles stopping as well when they find out their owner had stopped behind them.

One of them is sniffing Sehun’s feet, as Sehun recognized it as the dog he saw yesterday. His hands reaches down to smooth its fur, and the dog lets him.

“I didn’t get to tell you the name of my babies.”

Sehun furrowed his brows in response, and the next minute he bursts into fits of laughter, the latter is snickering before he sits on the bench as well.

“You call your dogs as ‘babies’?” How cute.

“Yes, because they are my babies and I take care of them by myself.”

Sehun holds back a snicker, his smile unconsciously grows wider, “Care to introduce them to me?”

“The brown Poodle sniffing you right now is Monggu, and the other is Jjanggu and he needs to lose weight,” Jongin’s voice trails, before Sehun breaks into another laughter, hands holding his aching stomach. Why is he innocently so cute, he needs to stop.

“Stop laughing, Sehun, why are you laughing?”

“You and your dogs are way too cute,” Sehun blurts before he can stop himself, there are tears in his eyes. He never knew that he had such low taste in humor. 

Jongin shushes him, introducing the last Poodle, “the white Poodle is Jjangah and she’s the youngest.”

“You like Poodles so much, don’t you?”

“I like fried chicken and dogs. Somehow, they share the resemblance,” and Sehun laughs right then and there again, tears slipping his eyes as he wipes it away.

Jongin and his antics can easily make him laugh to the point he feels like he could die of laughter. He had gotten to know another side of Jongin, who’s a wise person with deep words but at the same time, loves his ‘babies’ and fried chicken a lot and Sehun couldn’t appreciate more of him.

They’re walking to the pet shop, a few minutes after Sehun stops laughing when Jongin lightly smacks him, scolding him for laughing too much. Although without letting Sehun know, the boy’s laughter soon becomes Jongin’s favorite thing and he would like to hear more of it.

Sehun is holding onto Monggu’s leash with Jongin’s reason that the brown Poodle ‘seems to like him even though he usually clings to his owner more’ along with a whine tumbling from his lips.

“As I told you before, it’s probably a sign that I could be a dog whisperer.”

“Shut up, Sehun, and the only dog whisperer there will ever be, is me.”

“A dog whisperer who said his dogs resembles fried chicken, his favorite food?” Jongin shoves him, giggling as his lips form into a grin. 

Sehun checks his phone, when the phone’s buzzing in his pocket annoys him too much. He opens the notification bar and sees that Chanyeol had been the one causing his phone to vibrate continously.

Written on the screen was, ’(5) New Text Messages and (3) Missed Calls,’ and Sehun feels sorry for ignoring his friend so he opens the messages, mostly its typed in caps lock and Sehun can imagine a furious Chanyeol typing into his phone.

“WHY ARE U IGNORING MY TEXTS??”

“oh ing sehun, u better answer my call u brat.”

“!!!!OH!!!SEHUN!!!!! =^=”

“ u’re still not answering. WHAT IS HAPPENING?”

“I’M ON MY WAY TO UR HOUSE AND THERE’S NOTHING U CAN DO TO STOP ME.”

Sehun hurriedly calls Chanyeol before he can go to his apartment, because he knows that boy will definitely go if he says so. 

He doesn’t want Chanyeol barging in to find an empty apartment as he’s currently occupied with other things -meaning walking with Jongin and his dogs—. 

He hears it goes a few beeps before the other line answers, a very loud voice across the line and Sehun swears his ear could’ve gotten hurt, “About time Oh Sehun!”

“Chill, hyung, chill. I had my phone on vibrate.”

“How can I chill? You dropped a bomb and left just like that.”

“What bomb? I only said I went to the pet shop.”

“That’s the bomb right there. You didn’t even tell me why you went there. I’m on the verge of curiosity.”

“Why are you so curious, hyung?” Sehun shifts his eyes at Jongin, the blonde-haired too busy cooing his dogs to notice Sehun’s conversation on the phone.

“Because out of all places, you went to a pet shop. Are you adopting one?”

“I was going to, now I’m on my way there,” the next thing he hears is a shriek from the older boy and he regrets telling him on call.

“Can I go with you? Please let your hyung help you.”

“I thought you’re busy,” Sehun snickers and the other boy groans in the line. Chanyeol knows he won’t stop getting sarcastic remarks from Sehun any time soon.

“I can make time for my favorite brat.”

“You don’t have to, I’m already on my way.”

“But can you even choose which dog you’ll adopt? Can you choose which treat you’ll buy? You need me.”

“I really don’t and there’s something called as shop assistants,” Sehun’s silent for a while, hesitating if he should say his next words, “I have someone else with me anyways. Bye, hyung.”

He ends the phone call, the sound of Chanyeol’s “WHO?” cut short before he could continue throwing questions to Sehun. He puts his phone back into his pocket, as Jongin raises his voice, “You have an older brother?”

Sehun didn’t even notice that he had been silently paying attention, “He’s a friend and he’s older by a few years. But I do have an older brother.”

“I have two older sisters and they’re both married already. My oldest sister already has her second child, a boy.”

“So you’re an uncle now?”

Jongin nods his head furiously and Sehun wonders if he could get any more cuter. They’re at the shop already, and as they enter, a few dogs comes swarming to Jongin and his Poodles starts mingling with others. 

“Jongin, someone came in search-,” the girl Sehun met earlier stops mid-sentence when she sees him standing beside Jongin, a small smirk plastered on his lips.

“I found him at the park, thanks by the way,” Sehun voices out and the girl curtly bows at him, as Jongin speaks up, “You came by the shop?”

“I did, I was looking for you,” Jongin smiles that beautiful smile he couldn’t handle, it feels like time is stopping on Sehun and he’s staring at the boy with bright smile and droopy eyes in awe.

Jongin decides to show which dogs are available to adopt right after, as if luck seems to side on Sehun for the nth time of the day, the white Maltese he’s been eyeing is also available for adoption and Sehun feels very certain about adopting him. 

He pays for the adoption and Jongin helps him again in choosing the right treats and toys for his Maltese. Since the Maltese haven’t even turned a year old, Jongin reminds him to buy small treats so the dog can chew better and also small convenient toys.

“You don’t want him to choke on his food, and he likes to bite, even with his cute little mouth,” Jongin pets the fur of the Maltese and its tail wiggling cutely.

“I want to go through his name, can you give me ideas?”

“What’d you want it to be like?”

“A name easy to say and is adorable.”

Jongin taps on his chin and is scrunching his eyebrows in concentration, his mind going through names he can find that is easy to say, “His name can be rhyming.”

“Something like baby?”

Jongin smiles at him before laughing, his hands coming up to pat his shoulder, his soft hair cascading gently and Sehun had to fight the urge to bring his hand up to Jongin’s hair.

“That’s not rhyming, Sehun,” Jongin is deep in silence, trying to find a rhyming name, then his eyes flicker, “For example, my nickname, Nini.”

“I can name him that,” just as he says it, Jongin looks surprised, eyes bulging as if it offends him, “You’d name your dog after my nickname?”

“If you’re fine with it, why not?” Jongin giggles at that, and Sehun cracks a grin, his hand coming up on Jongin’s back, “I’m kidding, but I’ll name him something similar.”

Sehun quiets down as he goes through alphabets besides N and he’s fond of how it sounds like with the letter V, so he names it Vivi instead, the Maltese seemingly approves of the name given to him, his tail wiggling again and he barks at him.

“I have an evening shift, I should run now,” he smiles apologetically at Jongin, who is having Jjanggu napping on his lap. He whispers back, “Its fine, do you want to take Vivi with you?”

He couldn’t bring a dog to his café so he hesitates on asking a favor, “Can Vivi stay with you until my shift ends?” 

“Sure, you still owe me another hang out anyways. Maybe we can hang out with our dogs this time.”

“Four dogs with only both of us handling them? We need more people.”

“Its fine, you’ll hold Monggu since he seems to fall in love with you and fall out of love with me,” Jongin could be right though since the dog seems to cling to him more than to Jongin and he would always whine about it.

Sehun rushes out of the shop, after promising to text Jongin when his shift is over and gives Vivi a goodbye kiss. He brings the little things he bought for Vivi and decides to drop it by his apartment. 

He’s running late and he doesn’t want to risk getting a scold from his boss, Kyungsoo. By the time he arrives the cafe, he spots Baekhyun nudging him to put on his attire, his hands making gestures about him being late.

Not long after, Kyungsoo comes in to check on them and Sehun breathes a sigh of relief because that was so close. Before he’s busy serving customers in need of caffeine, he sends a text to Jongin, “My shift is over at 6. C u then -Sehun”

The café is packed with everyone of different ages since its a busy hour and everyone is either grabbing lunch or hanging out and a café is fitting for both. 

He recognizes a few of his loyal customers, and not far behind, he finds a familiar tall guy with curly long brown hair tingling above his eyes.

When its the guy’s turn, Chanyeol grins to Sehun, a cocky eyebrow sent towards him even though his eyes keeps on eyeing someone else and Sehun knows that someone else is no other than Kyungsoo, “I want my usual.”

“Are you here for coffee or a glimpse of your crush?”

“Both actually and I’m tired sitting all day. You also owe me a long explanation.”

Sehun rolls his eyes, putting in ‘hot Cappuccino and Chocolate Muffin’ then eventually shoos him away after he pays to prevent him from holding the line. 

Chanyeol motions him that he’s staying until Sehun comes over. In these busy hours, he won’t have any break so Chanyeol will have to wait until his shift is over, he hopes that tall boy finds something interesting to keep him occupied.

Once in awhile, he can spy on Chanyeol making a sad attempt towards Kyungsoo but the latter keeps on shrugging him off. It’s amusing to see his friend not giving up and trying so hard.

Baekhyun’s voice finally rises when he sees who Sehun’s staring at, “He doesn’t know when to give up, doesn’t he?”

“That’s one of his charms, I think.”

“Trust me, when it comes to Kyungsoo, he should let go of the charm and give it up. Its as if Kyungsoo has this impenetrable wall built around him.”

“Well Chanyeol must’ve thought he could break those walls with his antics and moves,” Sehun pokes him when he sees another customer coming in, and Baekhyun shakes his head, as he takes the order.

Its almost 5 PM when Sehun takes off his attire and heads out to sit with Chanyeol, who’s looking like he could die of boredom.

“Why did it take you so long?”

“It’s the busy hours and Kyungsoo’s strict about breaks at those times.”

“Speaking of Kyungsoo, he’s still unshaken by my charms.”

“Kyungsoo is a wall, trust me. Just find another guy who suits your antics.”

“I feel, in spiritual way, that Kyungsoo might actually suit me,” and Sehun laughs at the hyung sitting calmly in front of him, all of the words coming out from his mouth could come off as a joke.

“Hey, busy boy, tell me the details. I’ve been dreading about it when you said you’re with someone else,” Chanyeol pokes his arm non-stop and its starting to annoy him as he stopped him.

“Its long so hold on tight.”

“I’m all for the details, I’m prepared.”

Sehun ends up telling about his first meeting with Jongin -leaving out the part when he saw Jongin in the park—, trailing off to their midnight stroll and about Vivi, Chanyeol’s reaction throughout his story is so animatedly, he keeps on clapping when Sehun gets on an interesting part.

“Holy , I’m rooting for you with that Jongin guy,” is Chanyeol’s reaction when Sehun finishes his story.

“We just met yesterday.”

“And it already feels like you could make a movie about it,” not letting Sehun speak, Chanyeol continues on, his body making excited gestures and Sehun honestly worries that he could hit someone passing by, “I need to meet him.”

“Sehun?” another voice chimes in, the boy mentioned is now standing a few feet away, wearing a beanie and his eyes darts to Chanyeol. Sehun stands up immediately as he introduces them both.

“Chanyeol, meet my friend, Jongin. And Jongin, Chanyeol is the hyung I called earlier.”

They shake hands and Chanyeol keeps stealing a glance to Sehun, leading to an urge to smack Chanyeol so hard for subtly teasing him. Sehun grabs Jongin’s wrist, pulling him out of the café before his friend can say anything odd.

When he comes out, he sees their dogs tied near the door of the café and when Sehun notices Vivi wearing a pale blue knitted sweater, he squeals so hard and runs to him as he picks Vivi up and peppers him with kisses.

Jongin is silently admiring the adorable encounter and treasures it in his mind. Sehun cooing and peppering countless kisses to his dog is definitely something worth keeping in his mind. 

Unable to stay secretive, Jongin blurts out, his face flustered, “I thought it’d be nice to get you a gift for Vivi since its your first time adopting a pet.”

“Vivi looks dashingly handsome and I couldn’t thank you more, Jongin,” Sincerity laces Sehun’s voice and Jongin finds it hard to speak when he notices how beautiful Sehun is, the creases to his eyes when he’s smiling and the wind blowing onto his messy dark hair.

“Its nothing really, I don’t hold that many credits.”

“You do actually, so if there’s any way I can repay you, I’ll do it.”

“Any way?” Jongin is surprised that his voice came out hesitant, and for the first time, he feels nervous of what he’s about to ask.

“Anything but not too weird.”

“Just spend midnight strolls with me and we’ll be fine,” Jongin stammers, once again dumbfounded that he’s suddenly flustered and his cheeks are turning into the shade of pink. 

Without missing a beat, Sehun agrees, “We can stroll tonight, if that’s what you want.”

“Eager are we?” Jongin tries smirking confidently and he hopes Sehun perceives it that way as well, “We can stroll tomorrow night. For now, we have dogs to walk with and they look so excited so let’s not fail them.”

Jongin walks ahead with Jjanggu and Jjangah meanwhile Sehun is busy catching up with Monggu and Vivi by his side. They walk through the bustling streets, the car lights bright in the darkening sky.

The sky is turning into a beautiful orange color, the sun setting in the horizon above. They’re jogging towards the park, as Sehun finally catches up and is now walking in front of Jongin.

Sehun unexpectedly finds it relaxing, he’s one to like night time more than day time and seeing Vivi running with his tiny legs is not a thing he wants to miss.

They spend the entire walk, running across the park with their dogs, bursting in laughter when Vivi tackles his leg and that’s when he realized how much joy a dog could bring him.

Everyone is seemingly having fun, running here and there, except for Jjanggu, who keeps on resting since he had gained weight and as Jongin would call him out, “You have too much body fat, you need to move more,” but the dog neglects him and lays down on the ground.

They put the running to a stop when they start getting out of breath, resting on the grass, as they gulp down their drink -thanks to Jongin who came prepared with everything—, Jjangah and Vivi still busy playing in the distance.

“You seem happier, have you noticed that?” Jongin is staring at him, pointing to him as a gesture. Even under the soft moonlight, Jongin looks great and what’s worse is that he’s sweating.

Sehun is conflicted between finding Jongin very beautiful, as he’s glowing or finding him undeniably hot, with the long sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows and blonde hair clinging onto his forehead.

“I take your words seriously and into heart, Jongin.” 

“You’ll soon reach the goal you’re aiming, I can feel it.” I can feel it too, weird isn’t it Jongin?

“I feel so much happiness with Vivi in one day than all days of my life,” Sehun beams to him, eyes sparkling as the creases starts forming in his eyes. Jongin keeps on pinching his wrist to keep from staring at Sehun for too long.

“The day you feel you’ve reached your goal, I’ll be there by your side.”

Jongin’s words got him choking on his drink, and he’s coughing now. Jongin worries him and Sehun keeps telling him that he’s okay, curses slipping from his lips.

Kim ing Jongin and his deep words will some day be the cause of my death, Sehun curses beneath his breath as he tells Jongin he needs to go back and Jongin agrees right away, feeling guilty.

“I’m fine, really, Jongin,” Sehun chuckles, they’re walking to his apartment because Jongin is persistent in walking him home. 

“But you choked on my words, Sehun.” Jongin mutters beside him, still feeling guilty with his head hung low and Sehun doesn’t want him to feel guilty for Sehun’s abilities to get taken aback easily.

“No one has ever said things like that to me so I’m not used to it. I should be the one apologizing.” 

Jongin perks up right away, looking up to Sehun, “Wait, how come no one ever appreciates you that way?”

“I guess I can put a blame to my inabilities to befriend someone and make them stay with me.”

“But you’re able to befriend me and make me stay with you.” 

Sehun stops in his tracks as he sees the tanned boy beside him inching closer, until he slings his arm around his shoulder and pulls him into a half-hug.

“Appreciate yourself more, Sehun. If you can’t, I’ll be the one appreciating you and reminding you that you’re important. I’ll be there for you, always.” 

Sehun feels tears pooling in his eyes, his tears are threatening to fall any second because no one ever says that to him. Chanyeol isn’t one to show his affection through words so he never hears someone voicing out how he’s important.

He holds back his tears because he’s not supposed to feel like this and he keeps questioning how he’s triggered that easily by Jongin’s words. Not able to hold it any longer, his tears starts falling, as he keeps in a harsh breath. 

Jongin notices that Sehun is crying when he feels his chest heaving uncontrollably and he’s shaking underneath his arm. Instinctively he pulls him into an embrace, patting his head and soothing him as Sehun silently cries into his chest. 

He leans in to whisper by Sehun’s ear, “You’re beautiful and you should know that. Stop taking so much weigh for the things you didn’t do wrong. Its okay to cry, Sehun, I’ll hold you and stay with you through it all.”

The night quickly turning into a gloomy night, as Sehun’s tears keeps falling and when he stops crying, he’s sorry that he made Jongin’s shirt drenched in his tears but Jongin shushes him and slings his arm around his shoulder again, guiding a weak Sehun his way home.

Sehun arrives home from what it feels like a long journey from the park to his apartment, but he’s glad Jongin is the one with him. Jongin leaves his apartment wearing one of Sehun’s top since he insists in washing Jongin’s drenched shirt.

He goes straight to bed, his energy drained from crying. He doesn’t forget to bid Jongin a goodbye and the latter smiles, as he never took Sehun for a soft-hearted boy when he met him the first time, but there’s always more to people so his hands comes up, ruffling Sehun’s hair, “Sleep well. We’ll meet again tomorrow.”

The next morning, Sehun wakes up with swollen eyes and Vivi is and nuzzling his nose to his face, trying to wake him up and Sehun smiles as he mumbles, “Good morning too, Vivi.” 

He tries washing his face a couple of times, but his puffy eyes are still obvious. What makes it worse is that he has a morning shift and he honestly doesn’t want to be seen in this state.

He can’t tolerate going absent since morning hours are also counted as busy hours and the café needs him, so he leaves the apartment, his glasses are on to disguise his swollen eyes.

He comes in right on time and he puts on his attire in a quick motion as Baekhyun glances at him, “Whoa, what happened?”

“A breakdown. Nothing serious.”

“You look terrible even behind those glasses. I’ll handle the customers and you can stay behind the coffee machines,” The bell to the door rings loudly as he goes back to the cashier, and Sehun mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him before standing near the coffee machines. 

He hopes it can hide his eyes from the customers, he doesn’t want to be called as the barista with swollen eyes. He successfully hid away, yet a few customers notices his eyes but chooses to ignore it.

His shift ends in lightning speed, just like how his other shifts in the busy hours ends like. He fails to notice someone else than Chanyeol had sent him a text and he opens it, smiling to himself. 

“how have u been? I hope u’re feeling better! rest some more since those puffy eyes won’t go any sooner and I’ll have to cancel our midnight stroll since u need!!more!!rest!! :D skype me later~! -Jongin”

Sehun replies soon after, “I’m feeling better, thanks! u’re making me feel guilty for not having our midnight stroll tnight! :( will gladly skype u later, what’s ur id?”

Vivi greets him at the door by the time he arrives home, he makes a beeline to his laptop and turns it on. Jongin replied his text with his Skype ID, and he’ll just add him to his contacts before he takes a shower.

After adding him to his list of Skype friends -the only friend he calls on Skype is Chanyeol and the rest had never talked with him anymore—, he pours in Vivi’s food into his bowl and refills the water then he goes in the bathroom.

Jongin is calling him on Skype when he’s towelling himself and he hurriedly answers the call, which turns out it’s a video call and Sehun unknowingly had the camera to himself.

He covers himself before Jongin can realize he’s under the towel, and types in, “I’m going to get dressed, wait for a min.” Jongin’s chuckle could be heard from the speaker of his laptop.

He gets back a minute later and sees Jongin in the screen with Jjangah, sniffing into the camera and Sehun joins him by taking Vivi onto his lap, immediately sniffing his laptop. He doesn’t realize Jongin staring at him across the screen because he’s busy with Vivi.

Jongin is staring on his screen, comprehending how Sehun can still look gorgeous even through a pixelated Skype video call, his jawline, soft eyes, small pink lips and his wet  brown hair clinging to his forehead after showering.

They both spend the rest of day in the video call and Sehun even takes the laptop with him to bed, Vivi tailing behind him and jumps on the bed. 

Sehun finds out that Jongin loves reading books -that explains why he’s a person with deep words—, he mostly reads science-fiction novels and along with a handful of his anime collection. 

He gets to know why Jongin despises coffee so much, its because the first coffee he tried was an Americano. Sehun persuades Jongin to try other coffees that are sweeter to the tongue than Americanos but Jongin kept denying him and Sehun plots to trick him into drinking when he has the time.

Their call goes on until Jongin fell asleep near his laptop and Sehun hasn’t ended it, so he’s silently admiring the glorious tanned boy across the screen. He looks like a baby when he’s asleep, his peaceful face, Sehun’s mind wanders off.

He the screen to his laptop, right on Jongin’s face and realizes how dumb he looks but he doesn’t care because God’s greatest creation is sleeping across his screen and he’ll admire him all he wants.

Those messy blonde hair, plump lips that Sehun secretly wants to kiss, beautiful tan skin under the night lamp, and he’s breathing softly onto the laptop, his breaths audible from Sehun’s laptop speakers and he turns on the volume.

He eventually falls asleep too and the next morning, Jongin wakes up earlier than Sehun and with that, its Jongin’s turn to the admire the pale-skinned boy across his screen. He knows he’s asleep, but Jongin whispers it anyway, “Sleep well, Sehuna.”

He ends the call, typing in a “Good morning!” then he leaves the laptop and goes to the bathroom. Sehun is still fast asleep and he wakes up later, realizing Jongin had ended the call and he sees the chat, smiling mid-awake.

His day goes by the same, but the texts Jongin sent and the calls he gets from Jongin are the little things keeping him happy. He has morning shift afterwards, and between those hours, Sehun would sneak a peak to his phone and finds Jongin sending him emojis.

Later when his shift ends, Jongin would call him right away as if he had written on his agenda in what hour Sehun’s shift ends and they would talk non-stop through the phone, even until Sehun gets back to his apartment.

The voice of Vivi barking audible, and Jongin would ask, “How’s Vivi? Is he still adorable?” and Sehun chuckles, his hand smoothing Vivi’s white fur, “Yes, he looks cute as ever! We should walk our dogs together some time.”

Jongin laughs across the line, his rich laugh echoing in Sehun’s ear and Sehun can picture a laughing Jongin in front of him, how beautiful it would’ve been and he hears the other line sighing, “We have our midnight stroll tonight. Let’s walk our dogs when we’re not having midnight strolls, they’re tiring me and I’m getting older.”

“Old Jongin can’t handle a walk with four dogs,” Sehun jokes, and in return, he gets a scold. He continues on,  “I’ll meet you in the park at 11?”

“See you there, Sehuna. I’ll bring a picnic basket,” the call ends before Sehun can offer to bring something else. So when the night comes, Sehun goes to the park with fried chickens he bought in his stop earlier. The fried chickens are still warm in his arms, and he hopes Jongin loves it.

But it’s fried chicken nonetheless, Jongin will love it.

Jongin’s there ahead of him, motioning Sehun to come sit with him on the blanket he had put over the grasses, a basket near his feet. He shows Jongin what he brought, and Jongin’s surprised, eyes bulging and he’s grinning at the same time.

“Do you know why I ask you for midnight strolls?” Jongin asks in between chewing the food he brought, and also the fried chicken in his other hand.

“Because you love night time more than day time?”

“True but not necessarily just because of that,” Sehun lets Jongin go on, and his mouth is still busy swallowing, “When night time, everything seems beautiful. Its not piercingly bright from the sun but the shine a moon gives is soft. The streets are busy with their head lights on and there are brightness everywhere but it’s not piercing. All the stars blinking in the night is as if they are peppering and showering us with sparkling little lights, just like how we give our dogs kisses.”

Sehun is always taken aback when Jongin’s words hits him and it wonders him how those words came tumbling from the boy beside him, who’s currently biting onto a fried chicken. But hey, Sehun, we were strangers three days ago and look where we are right now.

Night time passes by slowly, and Sehun finds a fond of gazing to the stars above. Sehun comes home with a content smile on his lips and a selca together with Jongin in his phone. 

He spends some time staring at it, as they’re both grinning widely into the camera. The flash sort of ruins it since they squinted their eyes but its memorable. He sets it as his lockscreen wallpaper for the reason of being able to see Jongin’s face when he turns on his phone.

Time had flew quickly that a week had passed by and he had developed a new routine. He would spare some of his time going to Jongin’s pet shop and a walk with their dogs or their usual midnight stroll.

Even Chanyeol starts noticing the change of Sehun’s routines, he jokingly says, “So you’ve finally found someone to replace me.”

“Its not just me, you’re finally closer than ever with Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol does seem to hang out with Kyungsoo a lot these days, his ‘I’m busy’ reply text can mean other things now.

“I believe our friendship consists of love and hate since whenever I bother him, he would punch me and his punches are out of this world.”

“But that’s his charm, isn’t it?” Sehun points his fingers accusingly to Chanyeol, and the latter giggles. He never sees this side of Chanyeol before and he figures his boss who packs a punch for someone shorter than both of them is the cause of it.

Seeing his friend so awe-struck of someone reminds him of Jongin. He’s not sure if what he feels towards him is even love but he knows he starts having feelings for the tanned-skin boy.

He remembers the first time his heart was beating so fast and the feeling of butterflies in his stomach when they’re in one of those midnight strolls.

They were sitting next to each other, gazing upon the sky above, the stars are blinking at them and Sehun couldn’t stop staring at them. That’s when he felt a weigh on his right shoulder, turned out Jongin was resting his head on his shoulder.

At one point, Jongin was nuzzling to the crook of Sehun’s neck and all he wanted to do there was to scream because why is his heart beating rapidly? Why is he suddenly in such content? Why does he felt like screaming?

What the is happening to me? What are these feelings? I don’t like not knowing what I’m feeling and this is what’s exactly happening to me right now!

Later that night, Sehun came to a conclusion that he must’ve started liking Jongin. That explains why he would daydream of Jongin when he had nothing to do in one of his lunch breaks.

Days and days had passed, and Sehun doesn’t realize that the first time he’d met Jongin was a few weeks ago. Vivi is growing healthily and he’s playful as ever, but he regrets spoiling him too much because Vivi ends up being a lazy dog. 

Sehun always fails in training Vivi, all he could train him was the basics of sitting, hand shake, laying down, and staying. Well he trained Vivi with the help of Jongin -with his own Poodles following behind Vivi—, he keeps on bragging that he’s the ultimate dog whisperer because Vivi always obeys his order.

His friendship with Jongin is getting tighter than ever, as they wouldn’t mind with more skinship. They’d sling their arm around each other’s shoulders or lean into the other’s shoulder. 

Jongin would visit Sehun when he’s on his shift and he introduced him to Baekhyun. The amount of visits Jongin went for Sehun is countless to the point, Baekhyun once joked how they’re so inseparable it’d be odd if they’re not seen together.

As how casual Jongin is, he shrugged it off, meanwhile Sehun’s cheeks were getting redder by the minute and later, when Jongin wasn’t paying attention, Sehun playfully choked Baekhyun by hugging him tightly but lets go in the end.

Like the playful person Baekhyun is, he’d tease Sehun about Jongin since he kept on unconsciously blabbering compliments about Jongin to Baekhyun. “You like him a lot, don’t you?”  Baekhyun’s teasing voice still echoing in his mind as he wiggles his eyebrows at him.

At one time, he got to prank Jongin for drinking coffee, as he plotted before. When Jongin sipped into what he thought was hot chocolate, his face scrunches up in disgust, bluntly asking, “Why does your hot chocolate tastes weird?”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun got to help him in pranking him and they were holding back their laughter behind Sehun. One of them snorted so hard that Jongin got suspicious, and after Sehun told him that he was drinking a latte instead of hot chocolate, what came next was Jongin’s merciless smacks to him as he laughed.

He’s also been getting a lot of positive remarks of looking very bright the past week. Chanyeol and Baekhyun secretly knows the reason behind Sehun’s sudden burst of happiness, since Sehun can take them as his best friends.

Because of Chanyeol, he even befriended his infamous cold boss, Kyungsoo, and finds out there’s much more to him than what meets the eye. Turns out, Kyungsoo also likes music and had been composing his own songs, immediately clicking with Chanyeol when he knew about Chanyeol’s -not done yet— mixtapes.

Just as how Jongin had grown close with Sehun’s friends, Sehun too got to know there’s someone else behind the pet shop Jongin owns which is Junmyeon, Jongin’s close friend that could sometimes be counted as Jongin’s own older brother.

Junmyeon is rarely to be seen in the shop so Sehun had only met him a couple of times. And honestly, there’s a great leadership in him if only he’s not always making embarassing jokes.

He’s also introduced to his shop’s assistant, Seulgi, the girl Sehun met back when he’s searching for Jongin, is Jongin’s right hand of the shop and Jongin takes her as one of his close friends too. Seulgi would talk with Sehun when Jongin’s busy helping a customer, and Sehun knows a few of Jongin’s embarrassing moments from Seulgi. 

She notices that Sehun wants more than just being best friends -one time, he accidentally blurted of how good looking Jongin was to her— and she would encourage Sehun to help Jongin for the inventory, winking his way teasingly.

So far, Sehun is fine with being just best friends with Jongin but then it changes because of a single night. 

It’s their midnight stroll routine, but instead of going straight to the park, they stopped by Sehun’s favorite bubble tea shop. He told him that his favorite is chocolate bubble tea, in case of future treats from the blonde-haired boy.

After they get their bubble teas in hand, they head straight into the park and sits in their usual spot, near an old tree. They’re sipping their own bubble teas, then Sehun speaks up to break their silence, “Jongin, what are the odds that I have turned to what I am today?”

“Well what are the odds that we’ve turned into best friends when we were just strangers a few weeks back?”

“Life is either confusing or obviously clear to us.”

“Sehun, you’re missing the point,” Jongin takes Sehun’s full attention away from the stars, then his voice rises up in the eerily quiet night, “This is meant to happen. It isn’t just about being confused how we got here. It’s already paved like this while the wheel is left for us to steer on our own. In the end, you’ll still get back to your paved path, no matter what.”

“So what you’re saying is we should surrender to the path that’s already there for us?”

“No, we still have to steer the wheel for us to stay in the paved path. We still have to try our best, and no matter how shaky your path is, or how you’ve turned the wrong way, the path your heading was and will always be meant for you.”

Sehun is left confused with what Jongin just said, his brows furrowing in confusion as he just stares blankly into the chocolate bubble tea in his hand. He hears Jongin muttering, voice very near to him as he could feel Jongin leaning in.

“Like what I’ll do next is already meant to happen,” then he feels a pair of lips landing on his right cheek, a light kiss on his cheek then when he blinks again, they’re already gone and he silently hopes that it’d last longer. 

Sehun feels his body tensing, his expression a mix of confusion and surprised, the whole time Jongin is only staring at him with adoring eyes, there’s a glint in his eyes, and he smiles as he stands up, his hand offering for Sehun to take.

“Let’s call it a night, shall we?”

The rest of the walk home, Jongin is so casual as if nothing happened, and Sehun’s cheeks are still heating up as he keeps on touching the cheek where Jongin kissed.

He couldn’t sleep the whole night as the kiss keeps on replaying in his mind. He would think that what happened was just a dream but then his hands comes up to caress his cheeks, and it reminds him that it did happen.

Jongin had always been initiative ever since day one and now that he knows Jongin feels the same way, he starts thinking of ways to confess to Jongin. With Jongin’s kiss, he braves himself to make his move.

He’s been plotting his confession for two days straight, and he told his friends about it. They’re so supportive that they’d like to be apart of it. Chanyeol is the most excited and he keeps on chuckling, hands clapping like a seal, “Finally, Oh Sehun, finally.”

The day when Sehun’s done plotting comes, and he’s been sneaking glances to the clock hung up on the wall, his shift ending in about ten minutes. Jongin will come any time soon, Sehun is so nervous, and he’s thankful Baekhyun is by his side, calming him that it’ll go just fine.

His blonde-haired friend finally enters the café as he greets Baekhyun then Sehun, “Hey, I want my usual hot chocolate. No pranks, Sehun,” Jongin says firmly, eyes threatening him and Sehun waves his hand in dismissal. 

Jongin takes a seat across Chanyeol, as Chanyeol starts talking with him, getting his attention away from Sehun. As Sehun makes the hot chocolate and pours it into the cup, he slips in a piece of paper he had written a few minutes earlier to the cup holder and asks for Baekhyun to give it to Jongin.

When Baekhyun gives Jongin the hot chocolate, he notices something peaking out of the cup holder. The first thing that comes to his mind, is they’re probably pulling a prank on him. They won’t get me this time, he thinks as he opens the paper, a familiar hand writing written on it, and it says,

“Hello, Kim Jongin, did you see this coming? I hope not since I’ve prepared this for quite some time. I want to say that I’m thankful you kept your promise by staying with me all these times. You had always been there when I needed someone and you had become one of the highlights of my life. I have a confession to make, remember what you said to me the first time we went to the park together? That I should be happy from the littlest things in life and the goal I’m seeking is closer than I thought? Jongin, I’ve reached my goal and it’s you. I’m always blissfully happy when I’m with you and I hope I can always be happy with you by my side. So, Kim Jongin, date me?  -Oh Sehun-“

Jongin’s eyes looks upon Chanyeol and he just gets a shrug, then he shifts his eyes to Sehun, who’s already grinning his way. A little of himself knows that Sehun likes him back but he didn’t expect for Sehun to confess this way, and contentment is the only thing he feels after reading the paper.

He takes careful steps to Sehun, as they maintain their gaze towards each other. Sehun had already taken off his work attire and is now leaning onto the counter. Sehun’s heart is beating so fast and he feels dizzy, “Are you sure, Sehun?”

“Jongin, I just wrote a whole paragraph for you. I’m a hundred percent sure.”

He smiles brightly at Sehun, eyes twinkling as he mumbles cutely while nodding his head, “My answer is yes yes yes, and yes!” 

Sehun cracks a goofy grin, relief coursing through his body and all he feels now is excitement and giddiness. He links their hands and slowly leads them out of the café, a smile on both of their lips. 

Jongin picks up his hot chocolate before saying a good bye to Chanyeol and Baekhyun who are sending him winks and thumbs up.

When the couple left the premises, Baekhyun nudges Chanyeol as he whispers, “You really need to step up your game.”

“Shut up, Byun. I’m still on my game.”

“But you really need to step it up. They just beat you.”

Chanyeol shoves Baekhyun away too much, that he almost fell from his seat, cursing back to Chanyeol and smacking the back of his head. He knows that what Baekhyun just said is true, his mind plotting what he’ll do for his next move on Kyungsoo.

Meanwhile, Sehun and Jongin are walking on the sidewalk in silence, enjoying each other’s presence as their hands are linked. They never truly see what’s coming between them but in that moment, they believe its meant to happen.

A barista who finds himself too comfortable in his nutshell without realizing there’s an empty void in his heart that needs to be filled, and comes a pet shop owner who spends his life for his dogs, jolting but sure, showing him that there are beautiful things to see beyond his surroundings.

Soon, the empty void is filled by Vivi, the dog he adopted from the pet shop and the pet shop owner himself. What seems like a dull life to Sehun is suddenly bright and colorful when he has Jongin with him. 

He couldn’t picture a happy life before but Jongin easily changes that and he’ll venture into it as long as Jongin’s with him.

And with that, Sehun couldn’t be more sure than to have Jongin by his side until what he hopes is forever. Only time will tell, but really, who knows?